Uzbekistan: the progress of the first nuclear power plant in the Jizzakh region

The President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, visited the Dzhizak region to get acquainted with the works in the area where the country's first nuclear power plant is under construction. The planned nuclear power plant at this site will comprise two VVER-1000 reactors and two Russian small modular reactors (SMR) of the type RITM-200N

During the visit, the president was shown the progress of the works, which include excavating pits for the reactor buildings and preparing the base for construction: leveling the terrain, concreting and installing reinforcement. A temporary housing complex has also been built for workers.

Excavation of the 13-meter-deep pit for one of the RITM-200N small modular reactors began in October, and as part of these works about 1.5 million cubic meters of soil will be excavated.

The Presidential News Service reported that plans for localizing the production of construction materials needed for the nuclear power plant were also presented, as well as for expanding staff training at higher education institutions. And among the curiosities we note that beside the power plant a whole city is being built for employees of the future nuclear power plant. It will be located 16 kilometers from the construction site, and will have capacity for 10,000 inhabitants and will include all the necessary infrastructure, which together recalls the Soviet practice of building urban settlements dedicated to housing the workforce near large industrial complexes.

The project envisages that the design documentation will be submitted for review by the end of the year. The Russian state corporation Rosatom announced in October that the cornerstone for the first block of the small modular reactor is expected in March 2026.

By the way, the RITM-200N is a reactor cooled and moderated by light water, and it is an evolution of the reactors used to power nuclear icebreakers, with a power output of 55 megawatts. The planned operating life of the reactor is 60 years, and it is expected that the first block will reach criticality by the end of 2029, which would also be Russia's first export order for an SMR.

The original plan, which was agreed at the end of September 2025 during World Nuclear Week in Moscow, significantly multiplied the capacity of the originally proposed project (which included six SMRs with a total capacity of 330 MW). Instead, the new plan includes two large VVER-1000 blocks, each with a capacity of 1 gigawatt, plus two RITM-200N small modular reactors.